Your Room Or Mine?
by eishi
Summary: It sucks to be Souma Kyo: you're constantly drooling over girls you can't have, your friends are making fun of you because you're shy and your male cousin just decided to turn your world upside down by making a move on you. Life's not fair. YukiKyo
1. Part 1

**A/N: **Hi there. What you're about to read was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but then it grew... and grew... until I had no choice but to finish it and cut it in three parts. I guess the idea that I categorized as "simple" was much deeper than I had anticipated. Before you start reading, I'd like to point out one thing: I'm not a native English speaker, so there _will_ be mistakes that I haven't noticed. If you do, though, please tell me about those so I can fix them. Thank you.

**Pairings:** main pairing YukiKyo, mentioned HaruTouru and HatoriShigure

**Warnings:** sexual themes in general, a lime-rated scene or two, minor swearing, slight AUishness (the last time I checked, Kyo and Yuki weren't drooling over each other and Uo and Kyo weren't in such good terms...). This fic is anime-based and contains spoilers for the entire anime.

**Disclaimer:** Fruits Basket and its characters don't belong to me, but I sure wish they did.

_Revised on 24.11.2009. No noticable changes made, only one cultural thing in part three has been changed. Also, I very slightly edited some typos. I'll be back to finish the job... someday. Happy reading!_

* * *

**Your Room Or Mine?**

_- Part 1 -_

_by eishi (2007)_

* * *

"So, sweetie, now that we've established that you want to have sex with me, your room or mine?"

It had become a stupid inside joke that involved the whole Kaibara High. Apparently it had been a freshman who had been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing – some said that he had been sleeping during the lesson, some that he had played hooky on Arts – and he had been called to the principal's office. The principal of Kaibara High was a tough lady in her fifties, who looked much older because of her horrible glasses and old-fashioned dresses that were either black or sailor blue. A call to the principal's office meant usually that you were in very deep trouble and that there was no way to get out. Many of those who had been called to her office had been expelled from the school for two weeks minimum, and many of them permanently. No one liked the principal, and she liked no one. It was a fair deal.

That first year student that had been sent to her office one stunningly beautiful Tuesday morning had also learned that there was no way out of the mess he had brought himself into, and so he had held no respect for the older lady. The principal had given her usual speech about the manners of younger people and how they should respect the older generation and give them more space had gone to deaf ears, as it usually went. Then she had asked the student, like she always did, was there something he wanted to say to defend himself. The boy had smirked and launched in almost monotonous tone the nowadays very famous line: "So, sweetie, now that we've established that you want to have sex with me, your room or mine?"

He had been expelled for three weeks and was given detention for "defaming the authorities". If the headmaster thought that she had crushed the rebellious spirit of the students, she was sorely mistaken. The line of that one undisciplined student had become a widely-known joke in the school in matter of days, and when the humiliated boy returned from his expulsion, his words were still alive and had reached every student of the school. It was nowadays a habit to say "so, sweetie, your room or mine?" if you were in trouble or had been caught telling lies to your friends. In short, each and everyone in the Kaibara High knew that particular line.

That knowledge, however, didn't make Souma Kyo feel any better after those words had been uttered to him on one lunch break of a sunny August day.

"You _wish_, Yankee!" he shouted so loud that poor Honda Touru who had been sitting next to him had to cover her ears and still got a headache out of that. "As if anyone would want to sleep with you!"

"Relax, Carrot, that's just a saying!" Uo grinned and took a bite of her sandwich. "Gee, are you that sensitive? Can't even take one hinting joke?"

"Don't stray away from the subject. You're absolutely wrong, there is nothing in common with _kendo_ and—"

"How cute is that? Our sweet but unfortunately very hot-headed Carrot is that chaste that he can't even joke about sex!"

Kyo blushed heavily. "Shut up, Yankee."

"But it's true, isn't it, dear?"

"_Shut it!_"

"Whatever you say, my love," she laughed.

* * *

There were certain things that Souma Kyo was very, _very_ uncertain of, and sex happened to be in top of his list. Since their principal was so conservative in her mortals and whatnot, she had cut down all the sex education classes and made sure that there were minimum amount of those. And even if they happened to have one sex education lesson per period, it was usually "mysteriously" cancelled or the teacher (usually female, in her early twenties) started to giggle uncontrollably in the middle of her sentences. Needless to say, their lessons were pretty much useless.

As the school didn't offer Souma Kyo any help in that area of life, he had decided to search the matter on his own – and came back with tail between his legs. There was just too much information to his liking. The Internet was full of crazy yaoi-fangirls with nothing better to do than write their horrible descriptions of how male's genitals met in different positions; the library's section of sex-related books was usually crowded with older men and thus he didn't dare to go there; the bookstores were absolutely out of question because there were sharp-eyed merchants everywhere. Kyo's short misadventures into the wonderful world of sex had stopped very quickly, and he had grumpily accepted the fact that maybe some things were better left unsaid. Besides, with his curse and all, how on earth would he _ever_ get to bed with any girl – or guy? No need for sex education if you're not going to put that information into practice.

Even if Kyo had accepted the fact that he didn't need the information of sex to live a full life, apparently the world had decided otherwise. He was reminded of his little handicap every day: Uo would comment how cute some random classmates of theirs would look together, Hanajima would say that she sensed very strong sexual waves coming from the direction of their teacher, Shigure would crack his umpteenth joke about the relation of Kyo and Yuki (which _wasn't_ sexual by any means, thank you very much), a song played in the radio would include rather suggestive lyrics, his favourite TV-series would show a scene between two minor characters that Kyo didn't particularly wish to see… And, in addition, his own hormones were driving him crazy once in a while. The world just wasn't being fair to him.

Somehow, with enormous amount of forced will and nerves of steel he had been able to put up with the situation. He ignored all the obscene jokes, all the sexual references in song lyrics, books, TV programmes and in general speaking. It took much of energy and will, but nowadays he was able to live in his very own world where sexual relationships between men and women – or men _and_ men – didn't exist. _Ignorance is bliss_, he used to tell himself.

Naturally, there were times when all his walls of faked innocence crumbled and he had to admit that perhaps there was a lot more between people than just platonic love. These times were sparse, fortunately for him, but they existed, and he knew that they would get the better of him sometimes. In any case, he was happily living in his dream world – until that damned freshman decided to create something original and unforgettable that every other student was churning out.

"So, sweetie, now that I know that you've the hots for me, your room or mine?"

It was everywhere he went. Sometimes the line would appear in slightly different light; sometimes it was shorter and sometimes even more suggestive (how it was possible was beyond his "innocent" mind). Souma Kyo had come to a turning point in his life: he was in the situation where he couldn't shut out the existence of sex anymore.

And that made him more furious than the fact that the rat was still stronger than him, that his grades were still bad and the fact that his beloved Touru was dating Haru. He absolutely _hated_ that moment of the day when someone would shout on the corridors "so, sweetie, your room or mine?", because it happened every day and each and every time he was just as embarrassed as he had been on previous time. He couldn't get away from that stupid line – it was hunting him.

"Hey, Kyon-Kyon, now that I know that you want me so badly, your room or mine?"

"_Shut it_, _Yankee!_"

"Now now, Carrot, if you don't learn to control your anger, you're never going to attract a girl enough to take her bed."

"Yankee, one more word and…"

"You're no fun."

* * *

One of the eternal truths that Kyo had learned about his friends over the years was that Uotani Arisa never ever learned to keep her big mouth shut. She just _had_ to joke about topics that Kyo furiously tried to avoid – e.g. his sexual preferences, his temper or his hatred towards his cousin Souma Yuki. If Uo found another touchy subject of her favourite orange-headed friend, she would make fun of that until Kyo lost his temper, trashed his lunchbox and ran away. Uo just couldn't learn that there were certain times when it would have been a heck lot of politer to remain silent.

"Hey Kyon-Kyon, see that lovey-dovey couple? Which one is more attractive in your opinion, the girl or the boy?"

"Shut up, Yankee."

"Oh c'mon! Which one?" Uo tapped her chin and thought for a while. "Even though I'm no queer like you, I'd go for the girl. She's got pretty face."

Kyo sighed and glanced at the couple quickly. "The boy."

"Why?"

"That girl looks so ordinary. There's nothing special to draw attention to her."

Uo was silent for a moment. "You mean that she looks too much like Touru-kun."

"Will you ever shut up?"

"No." She stroked her hair. "Look, I'm really sorry for you – it's pretty much my fault that Touru and Haru found each other, since I happen to be the one who forced them to go together to that boring movie – but you've got to stop mourning after her. They've been together for six months, for heaven's sake!"

"And it's still your fault, Yankee."

"I said I'm sorry for you, not sorry for _them_. They're really happy together, if you haven't noticed." They had found a peaceful place from the school backyard (under a tree, in a pleasant shadow) and sat down to the grass. "Look, you had over two years and you never even once tried to do anything about it. Accept your defeat, it's easier that way."

"It's not," Kyo murmured. "I really wanted… I wanted to tell her…"

"Too late for that", Uo said cruelly. "Besides, she knew, and you know that. We've had this discussion hundreds of times. Stop beating a dead horse."

"You're not helping."

"Of course I'm not. I can't help someone who won't even accept help," she snarled. The sunlight shone beautifully through the leaves of the tree, and Uo leaned backwards and stretched. "My, what beautiful morning! The only good thing about this day…"

It really wasn't fair. It really wasn't fair that Kyo's best friend was the very same person who teased him mercilessly with every single thing that would freak Kyo out. It really wasn't fair that Uo was the only person in the whole world that knew of Kyo's sexual orientation and his misadventures in the "world of wonders", as Uo had once said with a smirk. The only thing that Uo didn't know was Kyo's curse, and that secret Kyo wished to protect as long as he could. It didn't matter did Uo know about that or not – she would still laugh as cruelly as always when Kyo blushed upon hearing the line "so, sweetie, your room or mine?". And afterwards she would always smile, pat his back and say that one day Kyo would find his happiness too, and then there would be no need for all the feelings of embarrassment and worthlessness. "Believe me or not, one day you're going to wake up and realise that you've fallen in love. And then there will nothing to keep you from reaching that person," she had told him while flashing that very rare, unfeigned smile. "One day it _will_ happen."

In reality Kyo couldn't have cared less about falling in love. One non-blushing person to tell him about the basics of sex would have been enough for him. And then, if he had the right to make wishes, perhaps a willing, good-looking partner for a practise round…

"Hey, sweetie, where are you? Your delicious body seems to be here, but your mind is somewhere very far away."

"Go to hell, Yankee!"

… Or perhaps not. If Uo's stupid jokes were enough to make him blush furiously, what would the act of stripping off clothes do to him?

"Now that I've got your attention – you hear me? – good, now get your lazy ass up. The class is about to start."

"I hate you," Kyo grumbled, simply because he wanted to take out his anger. The English lesson that was about to start was horror to almost every student in the whole school: the teacher was originally from Canada and therefore really _did_ speak fluently English (a quality that was very rare in high schools generally). Making mistakes during Miss Spell Checker's (a nickname that was rightfully earned) lessons meant slow death in the form of continuing humiliation. Kyo, unfortunately, happened to be on the Black List.

"Oh, honey, I just love it when you get dirty," Uo purred. Kyo jumped up and tried to stop his hands from shaking as Uo laughed. "I'm joking, Carrot! God, learn to control your nerves…"

"Perhaps if you learned to control your mouth," Kyo snapped. Uo just laughed at him.

* * *

Miss Spell Checker's lesson was just as boring as ever – and as hard as ever. The passives and adjectives and nouns and their usage was completely missed by poor Kyo, who really tried to concentrate – keyword being "tried". He fell asleep when the teacher started to talk about irregular verbs and some test that was coming. He was only asleep for couple of minutes, because when the snores were loud enough for Miss Spell Checker to hear, she marched right to Kyo's desk and slammed him on the head rather hard. Kyo woke up immediately.

"Now, Mr. Souma," she said as Kyo raised his head, "do you have anything to say in your defence?"

Kyo didn't say anything, because he knew that Miss Spell Checker wasn't expecting for an answer. She never did.

"If you had been paying attention, you would know by now that there's a test of irregular verbs coming up next week. How about studying for that, Mr. Souma? Your last test was truly substandard. Why can't you be a little more like your cousin? At least he doesn't fall asleep on my lessons."

Kyo remained silent, but inside he was burning: Miss Spell Checker had just insulted him in so many ways as she could in five sentences. She had underestimated his power of concentration, told the whole class that he had failed the last English exam and compared him to his perfect cousin. Of course the stupid rat wouldn't fall asleep in her classes. Of course that damn rat was her favourite student. He knew everything, every single fucking word that his dictionary could give him and pronounced them perfectly. Of course the cat was nothing compared to the rat.

"I'm really disappointed in you, Mr. Souma," Miss Spell Checker continued. "But since it seems that sleeping is the only thing you can do right in my classes, feel free to get back to that action." She turned around and tilted her head proudly backwards, as if she had been the one insulted.

Kyo didn't know what made him say it, but later on he guessed that it was because of the mixture of humiliation, Yankee's stupid jokes and that awfully pitying look his cousin shot at him. He stood up and said loudly and in very self-assured way:

"So, sweetie, now that we've established that you want to have sex with me, your room or mine?"

* * *

"I still can't believe you did that! I'd never have thought that you'd have the guts for that!" Uo was still laughing uncontrollably and hacking her knees. Hanajima had been giggling the whole lunch break, as had Haru and Momiji. Touru was still so shocked that she couldn't say a thing, and the rat was smiling uncertainly.

That little burst of rebellion had given Kyo three weeks of continuing detention (the hardest punishment a single teacher could give) and a threat to apologize to the teacher with a letter, if he didn't want to be expelled. Even if Kyo had to admit that it was the dumbest thing he had done in a while, he felt strangely relieved. He had actually said that line aloud. He had had the courage to say it.

"See, Carrot, you're much braver than you thought!" Uo snickered. "Now if you'd only practise what you preach…"

"SHUT UP, YANKEE!"

This time Uo obeyed him as she realised that she gone a bit too far. Kyo turned his eyes away from Uo and glanced at Touru and Haru, who were holding hands. Just the sight of those two made his heart ache, and he quickly turned his head to another direction.

"I have to say… she deserved that." Kyo was very astonished to hear his cousin say such a thing – the rat had actually complimented him. In a very hinting way, but still. His perfect, beautiful, over-confident cousin had actually complimented him.

"Yeah," Kyo answered when he couldn't think of anything else. Uo slammed Kyo hard on the back.

"Better make that a habit, you know! I think that that bitchy biology teacher could really need some sex education from you, Carrot."

"Yankee—"

"Or that sex education teacher herself!" Uo laughed. "Really, I bet that she hasn't even kissed anyone in her whole life and has just taken that job for money! Well, here's a newsflash for you, honey: reading theories from books does not equal practical knowledge! Really! I'd say that even you know more than she, Carrot-head."

"_Would you finally shut your big mouth and remain silent for at least thirty seconds_?" Kyo snapped. His cheeks were turning red again, and he felt extremely embarrassed. If there was one person in the world that Kyo didn't want to know about his inexperience in human contact, it would be his _perfect_ cousin. It would be just another point for the stupid rat. _Experiences in sex: Souma Kyo, zero points, Prince Souma Yuki, hundred points._ Life just wasn't fair.

"Whatever you say, my dear," Uo laughed. Kyo prevented himself from sighing. Life just _wasn't_ fair.

* * *

When Kyo noticed a few days later that almost everyone in his class was congratulating him for saying that line aloud to their horrible English teacher, he felt like becoming a bit more confident. Such a simple line with nothing to do with his real self had suddenly earned him respect and bravery as a cover he so badly needed. That stupid line had actually helped him to mask his uncertainty.

After that nothing would stop Kyo: no detention would stop him from using that line in every possible situation, no threats to be expelled would make him shut up. Such a simple line, and yet it was camouflaging every inch of his real fears and anxiety. It became almost his trademark to use the words "so, sweetie, your room or mine?" whenever he was confronted or had messed up something. Particularly Uo was proud of him.

"See, Carrot, I told you! There's nothing to be afraid of in expressing one's thoughts aloud! It's just natural to say what you're really thinking!"

Kyo didn't have the heart to tell his best friend that in fact he was still just as scared as before, but at least he felt a bit better the moment he launched those words to someone's face. Usually that poor someone would blush furiously and stutter something incomprehensible – in other words, act just as Kyo would've acted had the line been launched to his own face.

"But, but Kyo-kun…" Touru mumbled nervously, gripping Haru's hand, "aren't you being a little rude? I mean… that poor boy you told—told that…"

"Relax, Touru-kun!" Uo laughed. "It's just a bunch of words! Can't hurt anyone!"

Touru looked still unconvinced, and Haru patted her on the head. Kyo felt a pang of pain explode at his chest again, and turned to face the other way.

"You know, stupid cat, there still are borders you cannot cross," Yuki said slowly. His smirk made Kyo snap immediately.

"What do you mean, you damn rat?"

"Take Shigure for example. Saying him those particular words would be a suicide."

Kyo paled. Shigure plus lousy pick-up lines equals…

"Stop putting horrible mental images in my head, you disgusting rat!"

"Don't blame me. It's all in your very own imagination."

Kyo grumbled something and began to pout. Uo snickered.

"Well, well, what do you know. The Prince isn't that innocent."

"I'm not having this conversation," the rat replied quickly. "If you'll excuse me, I still have a student council to attend to."

"Sure, Prince. That's the oldest trick ever."

Yuki just smirked at her and left. Kyo was still keeping his hands crossed and kept them that way until the rat was long gone. Just why did it have to be this way? Why in the fucking world did he have to be the loser and Yuki the winner? Wasn't there _anything_ he could win at? The stupid rat beat him even in a game of cards.

"Hel-lo, honey, you still there, or should I do a little check-up to your—"

"I know you want me so badly, but could you at least keep your desires by yourself?"

"You know, I'm so proud of you. My little baby has finally grown up."

"Apparently _you_ haven't."

* * *

The world really wasn't being fair to him. It never offered him a chance to have a peaceful day – instead, his mood was varying from terrible to perfect, and the change could happen in bare three seconds. Not seeing his perfect cousin for the rest of the day had been a happy surprise – having to walk back home with Touru and Haru, who couldn't keep their hands off each other, was not. The only very vague ray of hope was that they wouldn't at least be at Shigure's house for the whole evening, since they were planning to go see a movie. Though, that left him spending the night alone with his two horrible cousins. Life just wasn't fair.

When he arrived home, his mood was risen a bit. Shigure announced (little too happily) that he would visit Hatori and that they shouldn't be bothered to wait for him, because he would most likely stay the night over there. (Honestly, how couldn't two grown men invent a bit better cover-up story? Their affair was so badly masked that anyone could see it miles away.)

"Kyo-kun, we're leaving now!" Touru chirped at six o'clock. "I made you some _onigiri_ to eat, they're on the kitchen table. Yuki-kun will most likely come home after seven… Um, I just thought you should know…"

"Relax, Kyo, you're not going to die from being alone with him for couple of hours," Haru added, rolling his eyes. "And although I'd love to stay and see what happens when you two are left alone, I'm afraid that I already have something more important to attend."

"Being jealous, are you?" Kyo shot immediately – the sight of Haru holding Touru's hand made him quite snappy. "Don't worry, you can gladly keep the rat all by yourself. I only want his head."

Haru smirked. "Loosen up a bit, you're being awfully tense."

"So, your room or mine?"

Touru coughed nervously at this point, and Kyo noticed that she was gripping Haru's hand a bit tighter than usual. "Kyo-kun, um, I—I really think that you're going too far… There's really no need to—"

"Forget it, Touru," Haru smiled. "Let the cat have his one and only fun."

This comment made Kyo even tenser, since it had hit the nail. When the two were gone, Kyo took out his anger by kicking the poor old tree on the backyard. It was already filled with the marks of his kicks and punches, since it usually served as his punching bag. Whenever Kyo was feeling grumpy, he went to that tree and beat it until he felt better.

Stupid cow knew nothing. _Nothing_ at all.

* * *

Kyo had heavenly sixty-three minutes of being completely alone, and then his illusion was shattered as the rat came home. Kyo heard from his footsteps that the rat was not in a good mood; apparently the student council had been a disaster or something other minor crap was getting on his nerves. Whatever the reason, Yuki's bad mood made also Kyo's mood worse.

They avoided each other for a relatively long time – usually they would seek each other out to have a good, old-fashioned bare-fisted fight when they needed to learn some _anger management_ (as that dumb therapist had once told Yuki, who had told that to Kyo, who had laughed off his ass and gone back to beating his sad old tree). Kyo came downstairs after doing his homework and went straight to the kitchen. His stomach was begging for food, so he opened the refrigerator's door and took the milk carton. When he closed the door, he noticed that the rat was standing before the sink and looking at him murderously.

"Don't you dare drink straight from that carton. There are other people living in this house too, and they don't want your disgusting bacteria."

Kyo bit back a reply ("for your record, rat, we are so closely related that our bacterial flora is 99,9 per cent the same, so it's not much of a difference") because showing that kind of intelligence against his cousin would have resulted in a heart attack and a week in the hospital for poor Yuki. Stupid rat just couldn't get that sometimes, when he was interested enough, he _would_ listen on lessons too.

He didn't verbalize his reply – he simply did just what his cousin had dared him not to do. Yuki's eyes flickered with anger as Kyo slammed the carton to the table.

"Don't tell me what to do, rat." He turned his back on the rat and took the _onigiri_ balls Touru had left him from the table. Yuki was suddenly next to him.

"Stop playing games with me. You know exactly what I want."

"Yeah, yeah. So, your room or mine?"

Time stopped.

_Holy shit. I didn't just say that. I didn't just say that. I didn't just…_

If there was a list of taboo words concerning Souma Yuki, the words Kyo had just uttered would be there. Using a stupid, originally inside joke pick-up line to avoid fighting for the sake of food was _not_ a good idea. It wasn't a good idea to use on anyone, but to use it on one's archenemy-cousin-somewhat-of-a-friend was officially _the worst idea ever_.

_Kill me now. Someone just please kill me now._

Yuki gaped at Kyo, and Kyo avoided the gaze. Time stood still. The _onigiri_ ball Kyo had picked up with his chopsticks fell back to the plate, but Kyo couldn't bring himself to picking it up again. The ticking of the clock was painfully loud, and Kyo wondered why hadn't ever thought about that before. (In fact, he hadn't even noticed that there was a clock in the kitchen.)

Then, just as abruptly as it had started, the still moment ended. Yuki smirked.

_I'm dead meat._

"Mine," Yuki said silently. Kyo blinked.

"Wh-what?"

"Yours is awfully cold."

"You—I—_what_?"

"What, are you backing off?"

Kyo couldn't answer. The life had just taken a route he had not anticipated and didn't even have compass to follow it. The whole moment was screaming irrationality.

"Stupid cat," Yuki smirked again. "You're really dense, aren't you?"

Kyo couldn't answer. His irritating cousin was once again outwitting him, and this time on an area that he really didn't wish to discuss. The chopsticks were dropped when Kyo felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

Yuki sighed. "Too damn innocent."

Kyo didn't have time to retort. Suddenly his vision was filled with a close-up of his cousin's lilac eyes, and then his senses burned when cold lips were pressed against his. Time lost its meaning; the only thing he could concentrate on was that Yuki was _kissing_ him, not beating the crap out of him like he had thought. His legs felt suddenly very wobbly, and there was a strange sensation filling his abdomen. Yuki pushed him backwards until he hit the wall, and Kyo couldn't even find the slightest hint of annoyance inside of him. He felt numb, like he really wasn't in his body anymore but instead watching his life from outside. It felt odder and at the same time even better when Yuki cupped his head and grabbed his shirt tightly with the other hand. When Kyo couldn't decide should he knock the living daylights out of his cousin or enjoy the turn of events, he remained still and let Yuki do… whatever he was doing. Whatever it was called, it made Kyo feel extremely good.

"Was that clear enough for you, cat?" Yuki asked, when they parted because of the lack of oxygen. Kyo stared at him.

"I… You—you…"

"Obviously not," Yuki sighed. Amusement flickered through his eyes when he bent forward. Kyo's face flushed when he realised that they were only millimetres apart, but before he could vocalize his discomfort, their lips were already pressed together again. The awkwardness disappeared the second he felt their lips touching.

This time he didn't think too much about it – he simply acted on instinct. Because he had not felt the urge to kill his cousin and stop the endorphins flowing in his mind by now, he decided that perhaps he should give it a try. In almost a timid way, he returned the kiss and placed his shaking hands on Yuki's shoulders. Encouraged by this gesture, Yuki dared finally put his arms around Kyo and pull him as close as it was physically possible. Kyo didn't complain: instead, he slipped his hands to Yuki's hair. He could feel Yuki's lips curve into a grin in the middle of their kiss, but didn't mind. He could endure anything as long as that wonderful feeling was floating in his head.

Kyo had never ever kissed in his life before, so it shouldn't have been a surprise for him that something had to go wrong. When he felt Yuki's tongue darting out, he opened his mouth immediately – and caused their teeth to clash painfully. They parted, and even when Yuki was clearly in pain, he managed to laugh.

"Where is your boldness now, cat? Weren't you saying something about a room earlier on…?"

"Sh-shut up," Kyo murmured. He felt suddenly very embarrassed instead of feeling good. Of course he wouldn't be enough for the rat. Of course the rat had to win him even in _this_.

Somehow Yuki seemed to understand what Kyo was feeling, since he took a grip of Kyo's shirt much more gently this time. "First time for everything, cat. From where I'm standing, you were doing just fine earlier."

Kyo was about to ask was the rat kidding, but didn't have a chance: his words were suffocated by familiar lips. This time the kiss they shared was peaceful and gentle, not rushed and bruising like before. Kyo shut his eyes without even meaning to do so; they lingered on the chaste kiss for a long time. Then, eventually, Yuki's actions grew bolder and he used much more force to shove his tongue inside Kyo's mouth and to push his back to the wall.

Kyo could feel the loud beating of Yuki's heart and sensed the hot breathing on his neck. He felt very weird at the moment – just few minutes ago he had been minding his own business and now he was… doing something that he couldn't describe in words. He took a tighter grip on Yuki's collar, trying to get even closer even when it was impossible. The air felt suddenly very cold when Yuki's lips left his own and the other began to kiss his neck, hands travelling from his shoulders to lower regions. Kyo shuddered when Yuki placed his hands on his hips, but got used to the feeling quickly. His breathing grew faster when Yuki started to tear his shirt, trying to slip his hands under it—

"I'm home!"

In bare two seconds, Kyo and Yuki had flung to the other sides of the room. Kyo leant onto the wall, trying to catch his breath and tugging his shirt back to its place. Yuki was looking directly at him, deep blush covering his cheeks and breathing just as irregular as his. Kyo tried to look nonchalant when Shigure peeked in.

"I'm just here to grab my wallet… I forgot it. I'm off to Haa-san's again!"

It was a miracle that he didn't crack a single joke about their stances and/or the looks on their faces, but then again, he was busy hurrying back to his lover. True to his word, Shigure really did just enter his room for a few moments and then rushed away. The slamming of the door woke the frozen cousins up.

Kyo was the first one to speak. "So… er… I— Um…"

There were so many things he wanted to ask and so many things he wanted to say ("hope you're not disappointed", "you understand that I'm still in love with Touru, right?"), but nothing came out. Yuki straightened his tie and smiled.

"I hope that I was able to give you something else to think about… You've been dwelling too much in the past lately."

Kyo looked up, astonished. His embarrassment turned to bewilderment – he really couldn't figure out his cousin sometimes. What was it that he wanted? Had this been just an experiment? Just a crazy thought? Or had he been planning this for long? Did Yuki actually _care_?

Yuki gave him a final smirk before sliding away from the kitchen and leaving Kyo stand there dumbfounded. He felt suddenly very, very lonely.

TBC


	2. Part 2

**A/N: **Thanks for all of those who have reviewed and/or alerted or faved this story! Here's the second part, hope you enjoy it. On with the show!

* * *

_**Your Room Or Mine?**_

_- Part 2 -_

_by eishi (2007) _

* * *

"You there, honey? I still see a handsome body, but there's nothing inside of it…" 

"You know, if you're that frustrated, go and get laid."

Uo laughed. "Finally awake, are you, Carrot? Let's go, the lesson's about to start."

Kyo sighed and followed his friend. He hadn't been able to sleep a wink last night – the pictures and feelings of him and Yuki kissing were stealing his attention from healthy sleep. Every time he tried to close his eyes, a close-up of Yuki's eyes would suddenly appear and make him lose all his weariness. Damn rat was _still_ haunting him.

It was weird feeling, actually – just yesterday he had been whining to Uo how he longed for human contact, and now that he had finally received what he had been craving for many, many years (starting from that one particular PE lesson in junior high...), he didn't think anything had changed at all. He was still the same old person, still the same old Souma Kyo that blushed every time someone would casually throw a perverted joke and hid his embarrassment by acting bold. Somehow the fact that he now knew what it meant to be close to someone (why was it so hard to use the term "make out" even _in his own head_?) made him proud and yet, it hadn't affected his life at all.

... Except for the fact that from now on, he wouldn't ever be able to think about his cousin normally. Every time he saw the rat, heat would suddenly creep up his neck and coherent thoughts would leave his head. This had to be some awful trap planned by the rat... It had to be! Why else would the rat smirk at him when no one noticed and let their sleeves brush when they were close?

_You freaking rat_, Kyo cursed in his mind, _you've destroyed all of my intelligence! It's your fault that I no longer have the ability to concentrate!_

"Kyon-Kyon? Earth to Kyon-Kyon?"

"_What_?"

Uo gave him a funny look. "Do you have fever?"

"Huh? No!"

"You're really not paying any attention. The lesson ended a long time ago."

The tenderness in Uo's voice was what really brought Kyo back to his senses. If Uo was ready to show her anxiety, it meant that things were in really bad shape.

_I must really look like a mess_, Kyo thought.

"I'm okay," he murmured, gathered his things and stood up. "Just a little tired."

Uo smirked. "Good for you, then, that the English lesson is cancelled."

"How come?"

"You _never_ pay attention, do you?" she growled. "For your information, handsome, Miss Spell Checker announced last lesson that today's lesson will be cancelled, because she wants us to study for that stupid test."

"I recall something like that..."

"My ass you are. Stop pretending, you freaking gay."

"Stop using that term! I'm not gay!"

"Whatever you say, my love..."

* * *

The weekend was mixed blessing for Kyo. He now had time to study for that test, but on the darker side, he was also forced to see the rat more than at school. After spending two and half hours at his room studying (which was his personal record), he had to give up and go downstairs. He just couldn't take the blank walls and the irregular verbs anymore – the invincible trio of "leave, left, left" was still ringing in his head and making him slowly but surely even madder than he already was. In both meanings of the word. 

"Kyo-kun!" Touru chirped when he arrived downstairs. "Good thing you came here – I was just about to come up! I mean, um, it's not like you had to do that for me or anything, I just—"

"Spill it out, already," Kyo snapped. He wasn't in the mood to listen Touru's ramblings. The girl sent him a shocked look, then calmed down.

"I just wanted to let you and Yuki-kun know that Haru-kun will pick me up at five o'clock, and I'm going to spend the night at his place..." Her last words were more like murmuring than talking, and Kyo could wholly understand: she was implying that this was _the night_ in her and Haru's relationship.

Oddly enough, that insight didn't send him to a trip through the nine circles of Hell like it had before. Now he found himself merely nodding and telling her that it was going to be fine. She blinked – seeing Kyo so calm was something she wasn't used to, especially when the boy had earlier on tried to murder Haru on several occasions just because he had found it irritating to watch the two lovebirds. Kyo noticed Touru's confusion, and continued quickly:

"So where's Shigure?"

"He's visiting Ayame-san. I think they're going to go later on to Hatori-san's, and spend the night there."

Thank god Touru was too naïve to understand the perverted tone of her innocent statement. Kyo was pretty sure that he wouldn't have been able to keep his face straight otherwise. Then he realised something else: out of the four inhabitants of the house, two were now going out... which left him and the rat being alone.

_Oh no._

"Um, Touru, are you sure you want to spend the night at Haru's? I mean, if you're not comfortable with that idea..."

Touru flashed him a smile that would have stopped anyone from doing anything. "That's so sweet of you, Kyo-kun, and I really appreciate your concern, but..." She tilted her head upwards. "I... I really want to do this. Haru-kun's been waiting to see that movie for so long!"

"What... movie?"

"We're going to watch a movie he picked!" Touru's big blue-green eyes were now gleaming with enthusiasm. "I can't wait to see it!"

Kyo resisted the urge to bang his head on the wall. _What_ had he been thinking of Touru – the most naïve girl on the planet? It would take the cow endless patience and over two years before Touru would even consider the idea of kissing... let alone doing something else.

"The tea kettle! I left the tea kettle on!" She rushed back to the kitchen and left a very humiliated Kyo standing in the hallway.

Well, at least she would be the perfect wife material. Her good qualities at cooking and behaviour would make up for the lack of her skills as a lover.

_What am I thinking?_ Kyo shook his head and followed Touru to the kitchen. _It must be the perverted air of the Yankee that's making me so weird..._

* * *

At five o'clock Haru arrived, greeted an annoyed Kyo (because he would soon be left at the rat's mercy... since he was merely the victim, and not definitely begging for it) and an indifferent Yuki (because he was just glad to have a break from studying, even for a minute or so) and lead Touru by hand out of the building so quickly that she barely managed to utter a hasty "bye". Stupid horny cow. 

Then Kyo realised that he was standing next to Yuki, who wasn't seemingly planning on moving away anytime soon. He jumped a bit, tried to look normal and escaped to his room. When he had seated himself and taken up the list of the verbs he didn't know yet, he stopped to think. Why was he intimidated by the rat, anyway? They had been left to spend the night alone millions of times, especially last year, when Touru had been busy with her new job and Shigure had been busy travelling in Europe to market his newest book. (His editor had finally convinced him to accept the translation contract that involved several European countries, and thus Shigure had become an international star. Stupid mutt was nowadays one of the richest men in Japan, and he _still_ didn't bother to repair his house with his own savings.) The point was that there really was no sense in thinking that that short make-out session with the rat had changed anything. Hell no – it must have been a plot by the rat...

_The verbs_, Kyo's sensible side snapped. _Study the verbs, or you will die on Monday._

He was able to study for a relatively long time without being interrupted, but then he heard the footsteps of the rat. The stairs gave a whining sound as the rat went downstairs.

Kyo stared at his notes. _Light, lit, lit..._

The stairs creaked again when the rat came back._ Lie, lay, lain..._

He heard a muffled click when the lamp was switched on. _Let, let, let..._

The papers rustled as the rat went them through._ Lend, lend, lend..._

A pen was picked up. _Leave, left, left..._

The rat started to write. _Yuki, Yuki, Yuki... wait, what?_

Kyo threw his notes aside and banged his head on the desk. How stupid could he get? There was no way that the rat would care for him, and likewise there would be no way that he'd start to care for the rat. The cat and the rat. Eternal hate. Nothing more.

Then _why_ on earth had the rat go and make things complicated? _Why_ on earth had the rat tried to woo him in the first place? Sometimes Kyo just wished that he could read people's minds – he wasn't as good with people as Touru proudly claimed him to be. He managed with them and learned to predict their moves after some time, but he was never able to understand really _why_ did people do what they did. Touru had told him that it was out of pure feelings; Uo had given him a very long and philosophical answer about how people tried to balance their needs and wants, and neither of them had made any sense. Why wouldn't people just freaking say what they wanted instead of beating around the bush and hiding stupid hints in their speech for ages before finally getting the message through? Was it really that hard?

_That's it. I'm going to settle things with him right now._ Kyo stood up so quickly that managed to knock down his chair and drop his notes to the floor, but he didn't even notice that. Instead, he stomped out of his room and kicked the rat's door open with a cruel kick.

"Stupid rat, what do you—"

The rat wasn't in his room. Coward. Kyo fumed at the threshold for a while, then strode down the stairs. Hallway, check. Living room, check. Shigure's library, check. Bathroom, check.

Kyo grimaced. Was the rat really plotting against him? Did he _have_ to be in the kitchen when it was the last place on earth where Kyo wanted to be alone with him? Gathering his courage, he straightened his back and peeked in the kitchen.

Lo and behold, and there the rat was, sitting on the desk next to the sink. He was smirking and playfully waving his legs – Kyo instantly understood that it had been a very bad idea to wilfully step into his trap. Now there was no way out of it.

"Looking for something?" Yuki asked, his lips curving now into a deeper smirk. Kyo blinked; he had decided to clear up things between them, and wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Yes. You."

"Well, you've found what you were looking for. May I inquire why?"

The mock-tone and the unbearable smirk on the rat's lips made Kyo lose his temper completely, even though he knew that he shouldn't get so riled up if he wanted to have a real conversation with Yuki instead of an insulting contest. He fisted his hands and shouted: "Stop being such a pain the ass, rat! You know perfectly well why!"

"Oh, do I?" The rat was clearly enjoying his rage, and that thought helped Kyo calm down a bit. "Then there's no need to talk."

He jumped down and walked slowly to Kyo. Actually, a little too close to his liking – Kyo was almost able to count his eyelashes, which, of course, made him forgot for a while why he had come here in the first place. He backed up, Yuki came closer... and suddenly they were in the exact same situation as before: Kyo was cornered, and Yuki was too close for comfort. Kyo's breathing sped up, and he had suddenly trouble in producing whole sentences.

"You—rat... get away..."

"Why?" Stupid rat, did he actually enjoy seeing him so trapped? "You seem to be having fun."

"No! Get—get aw-away..."

Their noses brushed; Kyo closed his eyes, since he couldn't take the close-up of Yuki's impossibly bright eyes anymore. Yuki leant even closer, his hair tickling Kyo's cheeks. Kyo started to tremble. Yuki finally stopped, and whispered into his ear: "You know, you could just push me away. Nothing's keeping you... and yet you aren't exactly trying to escape..."

"I... you..." Kyo tried to pull himself together, but the last intelligent thoughts disappeared from his mind when he felt lips pressed against his. He instantly gave in, grabbed Yuki's collar and corrected their angle. He could feel Yuki smirking again, but couldn't have cared less. Yuki pinned him tightly against the wall, softly stroking his hair and deepening their kiss all the time. Kyo shivered – just the scent of Yuki was able to make him light-headed, but the taste... was beyond words.

Yuki broke their kiss for a while – after the need of oxygen became an issue – but his lips never left Kyo's skin. Kyo trembled, trying to keep his balance by holding onto Yuki. Yuki's hands roamed on his hips, until the shirt was finally lifted and warm palms pressed against Kyo's stomach. Kyo tried to keep himself from gasping, but to no avail. Yuki just smirked and tugged his shirt farther. Kyo wrapped his arms around Yuki's neck and took a deep breath of his strange scent – it was weird that this was the very same scent he had smelled each and every time they battled, but this time it felt different nonetheless. Yuki trailed kisses down his neck, drawing invisible curls to his skin, and Kyo tensed a bit. Noticing this, Yuki leant against closer and started to kiss him furiously on the lips, making Kyo forget completely for a moment who he was and what he was doing.

Then realisation hit him, and he pushed Yuki away abruptly. "Wait a minute, rat…" He couldn't manage any more words, since he was still panting and trying to remember what he was supposed to say. Yuki stopped, panting too, and a smirk on his lips again. Kyo ignored that. "Why… why are you doing this?"

"Making-out usually involves two people, in case you haven't noticed, cat," Yuki sneered, "and the other half in this case is, if I recall clearly, you."

"I know that!" Kyo snapped. "Just… why?"

Yuki smirked again, and then stepped away from him. Kyo stared as he returned next to the sink and leant onto the desk. "I think it's called attraction, cat… And that's the other think you should know by now."

"The other?" Kyo had to lean against his hands to keep himself from punching the rat. Why in the fucking world did he have to force every single stupid word from his cousin? "What 'the other'?"

"Form complete sentences, cat, unless you're too stupid to do so. The other thing is of course that you're the other one that wants to make out."

"Stop using that term!"

"What, 'making out'?"

"It sounds—sounds stupid!"

"You're embarrassed, aren't you," Yuki chuckled. "Are you ashamed of me?"

"No! It's… just…" Kyo sighed. "Whatever. Let me ask you this in terms that even a prick like you can understand: _why-did-you-kiss-me-in-the-first-place_?"

This seemed to take Yuki aback, since he suddenly hid his eyes by starting to play with his hair. A moment of awkwardness passed. Then Yuki suddenly looked up, right to Kyo's eyes, and said with a low voice: "Because I never hated you, and I never want to. Is that clear enough?"

Kyo fisted his hands behind his back. "No! Where is this thing leading? What do you want from me?"

"I don't know, okay?" he snapped – the sudden change in Yuki's tone caused Kyo finally forget his anger and concentrate on his cousin's words. "All I know is that… that I… fuck it, can't stop thinking about you!"

_What a romantic confession_, Kyo's evil side snarled, but he pushed it aside. Despite the circumstances, it was the most beautiful thing that had been ever said to him. Yuki avoided his eyes now, and silence fell over them. Kyo tried to sort his feeling quickly – what to answer?

"How long?" he finally asked. "I mean… how long have you been—"

"Addicted?" Yuki said sarcastically. "Over two years or so."

"Two years?" Kyo gasped. "Why didn't you—"

"Because of her," Yuki interrupted coldly. Then he sighed, straightened his back and pushed his forelock away from his eyes. "I have to finish studying."

Kyo really wanted to stop him, say that there was no need to run away, but he had no words. He didn't know what to say, and thus let his cousin slowly walk away and leave him in the kitchen dumbfounded for the second time.

* * *

When Kyo entered Yuki's room few minutes later, he didn't knock but instead stepped right into the room and slid the door close behind him quietly. Yuki was sitting by his desk and tapping his pen against an open book – which was assumingly his English grammar book – but didn't look like he had been studying at all. He glanced at Kyo quickly, but then turned back to his notes. This time, Kyo didn't feel like losing his temper. He was actually feeling a bit sad for the rat. 

"You were right about one thing, rat." Kyo scratched his neck, feeling a bit awkward. He hated telling people what he wanted in words when it would've been so much easier to just act. "It really gave me something else to think about… for a while."

Yuki looked at him, an odd look on his face – like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Kyo continued quickly:

"Er… just so you know… I'm still not over her, not completely, anyway… But, um, I…" He took a deep breath. "I don't hate you. That's all."

To anyone else that ridiculous confession wouldn't have meant anything, but Kyo knew that between them it was a huge step. He felt a headache coming: too much had happened during the last few days. Stupid emotional rollercoaster trips that he had never been able to deal with properly…

Yuki's blank gaze was too much for him, so he quickly backed out of the room and closed the door after him. It would be much, much better if they'd be separated for the weekend. After all, with that stupid life-threatening exam coming up and all, the last thing Kyo wanted now was more confusing thoughts to his already messed up head.

_Light, lit, lit… _he vaguely repeated in his mind as he started to slouch back to his room. _Give, gave, given…_

* * *

"Have you been sleeping _at all _lately?" 

"How come, Yankee?"

"You look tired. You, of all the people, actually look tired." Uo faked a shocked expression. "Oh no! The world's coming to an end! Souma Kyo has no more energy left!"

"Shut up," Kyo said half-heartedly, "I can be tired too. It's not just your privilege."

"How 'bout then telling me why you're looking like you could fall asleep any minute?"

"I was studying last night," Kyo replied. The suspicion on Uo's face would have normally ticked him off, but this time he was too tired to hit his friend. "Yes, even _I_ study sometimes."

"I never said that you didn't," Uo replied dryly. "I was just wondering why would you bother, but then I started to think. It's Miss Spell Checker's exam, after all."

"Tell me about it," Kyo grumbled. "I think I'll die of the humiliation if I don't pass this fucking—"

"Watch your language, sweetie. There are children nearby."

"Momiji hardly counts as a child," Kyo rolled his eyes at the jumping and shouting boy who was trying to make friends with some second year students few meters from them. Uo leaned on the corridor wall and grinned.

"Just look at him. Such a sweet, innocent and enthusiastic child. Just tell me…" She pointed directly at Momiji with her thumb, and Kyo quickly hissed her to stop doing so. "Where do you find 'maturity' in him?"

"You have no idea," Kyo said, reluctant to explain to Uo about Momiji's curse, traumatizing relation to his mother and sister and how he was acting like a brat to hide all his pain. "Anyway, where is that stupid teacher now? First she preaches us to be in time, and then she's late from her own class. What a dork."

"You're running out of good insults, honey," Uo laughed. "And don't you dare complain. Every minute that I get to spend here at the corridor and away from her lesson is heavenly."

"And your extra minute in heaven is over now," Kyo growled when Miss Spell Checker's loud steps started to echo in the corridor (she always wore high heels of twelve centimetres). They shared a quick look that said 'good luck… I know you'll be needing it more than me' and stepped into the class.

Kyo couldn't concentrate before the papers were handed to them. The pictures of the weekend kept playing themselves in his head, all the way from Touru's leave to the moment he escaped Yuki's odd look. After that short conversation – or, more accurately, his short monologue to Yuki – they hadn't exchanged a word and hadn't even seen much of each other. Shigure had returned Sunday morning, and only his return had been able to encourage Kyo to come out of his room. He didn't know what Yuki had been doing Saturday evening or had he even slept at night… Kyo, on the other, hadn't slept at all, and it somehow felt safe to assume that Yuki hadn't slept either.

He stole a quick glance at his cousin, who was carefully listening to the same instructions Miss Spell Checker gave them every time, and sighed in his mind. Yuki looked perfectly alright – just like he always looked. There was no way of knowing what he was thinking about or what he was feeling right now. The only way Kyo was able to read him was through fighting and, rarely, from his body language.

_Pitiful. I can read his mood only when I can measure the force of his punch._ Kyo had to force himself to stay still and not shake his head, even though he urged to do so. _Maybe that dumb psychiatrist he goes to see weekly was right. We should learn some 'anger management' or whatever that crap was called._ Pictures of them talking side by side about their worst fears and deepest wishes suddenly appeared to his mind, and this time he couldn't help but shake his head. _No thanks. I'd rather take the blood and sweat and bruises._

When the exams were finally given to them, Kyo pushed all his ridiculous thoughts about his cousin aside and focused on recalling the past tenses of 'to weave'. (He had no idea what he would gain by remembering that verb, but scribbled the answer nonetheless.) The forty-five minutes they had to complete the task were soon gone by, and Kyo let out a sigh of relief when the bell rang. Uo scowled at him when they were outside the classroom.

"What. The. Hell. I didn't know any of those verbs!" she shouted. "Seriously, who needs some random verb like 'to grind'? What does is even mean?"

"Uo-chan, just relax, I know you did much better than you think!" Touru tried to convince her friend. Hanajima, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, nodded.

"Your brain waves during the exam were calm as always. You did well."

"That's not something you can define by checking my brain waves!"

"Oh, Yuki-kun! How was the exam?" Touru chirped as soon as she got a sight of the rat. Kyo gulped – they were already on the rooftop for lunch, and there was no way he could sneak away. Yuki smiled politely at Touru.

"It was fine, thanks for asking, Honda-san."

"You were slamming your head to your desk several times after the exam," Haru reported dryly and took his place next to Touru. They settled down and opened their lunch boxes. "I happened to walk by and see."

"Thanks a lot, Haru," Yuki growled. It was so unlike him that they all began to stare at him right away, Kyo included. Yuki smiled again, like he hadn't even said anything. "Honda-san, could you pass me the Soya bottle, please?"

Kyo seriously wanted to punch Yuki more than once during the dinner just to get him angry and respond with a kick – that way Kyo could've told what was going on in Yuki's mind. Was he angry? Was he sad? Disappointed? Tired? Feeling anything at all?

_He needs to get laid_, Kyo thought sarcastically. Then he paused to really consider the matter. That short confession Yuki had blurted out had actually told him more than the rat realised – hadn't Yuki said that he had been "addicted" over two years? And hadn't acted on it because Kyo had been too busy pining for Touru?

Suddenly the sight of Touru and Haru sitting side by side, holding hands reduced into the level of being neutral and the sight of Yuki eating silently, legs crossed and holding his chopsticks gracefully became the most depressing sight of the universe. All this time he had been whining to Uo that there was no person on earth who would accept him, and paradoxically a person that mad had been alongside him all the time. He had known at least on some level that his and Yuki's relation had changed right after that notorious day he had transformed to his final form. Yuki and Touru going after him, Yuki and Touru calming him down, Yuki and Touru accepting him, Yuki and Touru being there all the time… Even if he had never said that aloud, his anger had died that moment and at the latest when they had finally fought their one and only serious fight after visiting Akito.

_Was he holding back even in _that_ fight?_

He remembered Yuki's shocked face and the blood dripping from his nose, the sweat on his forehead and the two syllables he had managed to utter before passing out. The thump, the loud silence after that, the upset cry Touru let out—

"_Do you…"_

Kyo had never found out what Yuki had meant to say before passing out of blood loss, and had never asked. Now it seemed to be just a one more thing to add on his list of the enigmas of Souma Yuki.

_Does he hate me? Does he care about me? What did he intend to say? Am I the reason he rejects everybody? Am I the reason he tries to be perfect in everyone's eyes?_

… _Am I just selfish to think so, or_—he stole a quick glance at his cousin—_am I right nonetheless?_

* * *

TBC

* * *


	3. Part 3

**A/N:** Hi there. This is the last part, and in case someone is wondering: no sequel planned. Thanks to each and every reader, regardless of have you reviewed or not!

(Btw, don't expect any detailed sex scenes. My... innocent... mind couldn't take writing those. Still interested in reading, even though there aren't any good stuff to look forward to? ... Please do proceed, then. :D)

_Editoral note 24.11.2009:_ one cultural detail has been changed. In Japan, red is the colour of joy, and thus, all the exams are filled with red if one did a good job, as opposed to the Western way of marking errors with red. This might confuse some readers, so I thought I'd mention it briefly. Enjoy!

* * *

**Your Room Or Mine?**

_- Part 3 -_

_by eishi (2007)  
_

* * *

"I hate Biology," Kyo snapped after their last lesson. "What's the use of learning all the stupid Latin names of stupid plants?"

"You just need some stress relief, honey," Uo purred. "There an empty closet over there, if you insist on it."

"Thanks, but I'd prefer a real room over a small closet full of spiders and brooms."

"Brooms can be used for many things, dear, don't you underestimate them."

"Spare me from your perverted ideas. So, your room or mine?"

The couple shared a quick smirk. Kyo coughed.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say that you're _really_ lusting after me."

"In your dreams," Uo snorted. "I don't want a man who might leave me anytime for the sake of another _man_. That would be just downright humiliating."

"You say it like it was a bad thing."

"It would be, if I was dating you."

"How did we get into this…? Wait up, Yankee, if I was dating you, I'd never even consider leaving you."

"Aww, that's just so sweet, but…?"

"What do you mean, 'but'?"

"Come on, I know you better than that. There's always a 'but' when it comes to me."

"… you've been spending too much time with me. Anyway, here's your 'but': you'd kill me did I ever even try to leave you."

"Now _that's_ humiliating."

They shared a smirk again. "Love you too," Uo laughed. "I'm going to take my leave now. See you tomorrow."

"Wait up—"

"Unlike some other people, I have a job." She grimaced. "See you."

She turned on her heel and stomped away, and Kyo didn't try to stop her. He silently smiled at her back – despite all her perverted jokes, incompetence to learn to shut up at certain times or to control her fists, she was more important to him that she knew. Or then she knew, and knew too that Kyo could never voice his thoughts. He grinned.

"What are you smiling at?"

Kyo turned to see an irritated Yuki, who was taking his shoes out of his locker. Kyo slammed his locker shut and tried to look calm.

"Nothing."

Yuki's irritation turned into a scowl. "How can you be so happy even after this horrible day?"

Kyo quirked an eyebrow. "I still have some things to be glad of. Something called 'a life', for instance."

Yuki laughed dryly. The shoes in his right hand trembled as he clearly had trouble controlling his fists. "I hate it how simple everything is for you. You're just too easy to put up with. If you're happy, you're happy… If you're sad, then you are sad. There's no in-between option in your menu of emotions."

Kyo rolled his eyes. "D'you think it's fun to be on a constant rollercoaster trip through either Hell or Heaven?"

Yuki shot an odd look at Kyo – once again Kyo wasn't able to decide was the rat shocked, hurt, smirking or smiling. It was that one look he was continuously giving Kyo and Kyo only, but sadly that one exclusive person wasn't able to tell what it meant. "It's better than to be always feeling the same damn thing."

They stared each other. Kyo coughed, feeling a bit awkward. "You mean… you mean that you're always sad?"

Yuki turned his eyes back to his locker, dropped his shoes to the floor and closed the locker. "Yeah. I am."

"That's… just plain stupid."

"I know." His fists were trembling again. "Fuck, I hate you so much sometimes. How _easy_ everything is to you. How lucky you are and don't even fucking realise it."

"You're a broken record," Kyo replied dryly. He knew he was being rude to Yuki, but there was a limit of what he could take in public and what in privacy. Yuki revealing his deepest feelings in school at the lockers was not something he particularly wished to experience – or rather, wanted everyone to see. "Come on, we're going home."

Yuki once again gave him that one odd look, but Kyo coldly turned away and started to walk down the aisle. He heard a shuffle and then silent steps, and knew the rat was following him. What he did not expect was a hand that grabbed his shoulder and forced him against the wall.

"I hate you," Yuki snapped as he clutched Kyo's upper arms. Kyo didn't even try to break away from the painful hold; Yuki was once again looking at him with that mysterious look. "I hate you for making me feel like this."

"What?" Kyo let out a startled sound, but it went unnoticed by Yuki, who was just clutching Kyo's arms tighter. "That hurts, you bastard," Kyo whined, but didn't move. Yuki brought his face close to Kyo's, and suddenly the familiar cascade of events was happening again: it became harder to breathe, the sight of Yuki's eyelashes was impossible to pass, producing complete sentences was out of question and his brain forgot how to move. There just was something hypnotizing about his cousin that made him forget everything and everyone around him – it was just impossible to break the spell and push the damn rat away.

"I had a horrible day," Yuki murmured, "and I really hope that you're ready to lighten up my mood."

"De-depends… on…" Kyo gulped and bravely tried to finish his sentence, "wh-what you have to offer."

Yuki smirked. "Everything."

Butterflies filled Kyo's stomach as Yuki forcefully pressed their lips together and tightened his grip of Kyo's arms. Kyo wanted to put his arms around Yuki, but the other denied it, and Kyo couldn't find the will to fight back. Yuki nudged Kyo's neck, making Kyo sigh in excitement and pleasure. Kyo was pretty sure Yuki smirked again against his skin, and that thought restored his usual stable resistance against commonly everything. He grabbed Yuki's collar and attacked his lips, attempting to make the other lose balance.

His plan backfired, unfortunately, as Yuki did not lose his balance, but instead just deepened their kiss and pressed Kyo harder to the wall. Kyo submitted immediately when faced with the impossible challenge of resisting Yuki's taste. Yuki seemed to realise this as well, because he loosened his grip a bit and started to kiss Kyo more tenderly than forcefully. Having his arms finally free, Kyo slipped them around Yuki and relaxed in the embrace.

Their kiss turned slowly into a lazy, lingering moment and the wild passion suddenly melted away. When they parted, neither made an attempt to move away; they stared each other in the eye and enjoyed the warmth and the comfortable stance. Kyo was the first one to talk.

"Someone's coming."

Yuki smirked gently at him. "I've always wondered what cat-like features you would have, excluding your hair and eye colour. Apparently your hearing is better than most of people."

"It is?" Kyo was really surprised at this – no one had commented on this before. "I've never noticed."

"Where is he?"

"In the upper corridor."

"Then we have plenty of time." Yuki nudged Kyo's neck again, and a wave of heat filled Kyo in seconds. He pushed Yuki away.

"Get off. The last thing I want is to be seen with you."

That strange look returned to Yuki's face again, and he let Kyo go so suddenly that Kyo almost lost his balance. "Whatever. I'm going home."

He turned, grabbed his backpack from the floor and kicked the door open. Kyo stared as his usually calm and sometimes almost stoic cousin literally stomped away, waving his hand furiously at his sides and shooting a dark glare at anything that moved.

A slow, silent realisation filled his head as he watched Yuki walk away. He leant on the wall, missing an interesting episode as the boy he had heard approaching before engaged in a tongue-battle with another boy right in front of him, since all he could see at the moment was a close-up of Yuki's face wearing that mysterious expression. He now knew that he had seen that face dozens of times before – for two years, to be exact – but had never paid attention to it.

_Yuki never looks at anyone else like that._

Kyo picked up his bag and Yuki's forgotten shoes from the ground, dodged gracefully the kissing couple and opened the door. There were dark clouds in the horizon and the air was ominously moist, but for once, he didn't care.

_I'm the only one he dares to act around like that._

* * *

When Shigure bumped to him on his way back home and told happily that he was visiting Hatori, Kyo merely nodded. When Touru almost bumped to him – missing him by few millimetres and thus not managing at turning him into a cat, thankfully – and told happily that she was visiting Haru, Kyo knew that life was plotting against him.

It was starting to rain. He had to spend the night in an empty apartment with his cousin. His cousin had suddenly managed at turning his world upside down and making him feel guilty. And, fuck it, it was really _raining_.

_God hates me_, Kyo thought bitterly. _I ask for one teeny tiny little thing, and even that can't be granted. I just wanted to keep away from him for a while._

He opened the front door and muttered a silent 'hello' at no one in particular, even if he knew very well that Yuki was probably upstairs. At the moment he didn't want to see his cousin again—

"Kyo."

Kyo sighed in his mind, placed his shoes in the neat line and looked bravely up. Yuki was leaning against the doorframe that separated the dining room from the kitchen. Just the word 'kitchen' was able to send shivers down Kyo's spine, so it took him a moment to adjust to the situation and answer.

"Yeah?"

Yuki slowly passed his fingers through his hair before continuing: "We need to talk."

_About time_, Kyo was about to say, but stopped himself in time. Yuki probably didn't need any more discouragement. He stayed where he was, staring directly at Yuki and waiting for the other to continue. After a short pause Yuki sighed.

"I was just… I… just thought that… if I'm bothering you—"

"Get to the point, rat, I don't have all day." Kyo blinked; He really hadn't meant to say that aloud, but the miserable look on Yuki's face plus the steady rhythm of the rain in the background made him impatient. Yuki blinked too, then a snarl settled on his face.

"Fine. If you're not interested in what I have to say—"

"Cut the crap and talk."

Yuki blinked again, and this time a faint glimpse of rage was lurking in his eyes. They looked each other in the eye – Kyo didn't want this eye contact to break just because he had a gut feeling that if it did, something horrible would happen.

"Do you know why I turned down Ayame's offer about helping me to buy my own apartment?" Yuki said with a low voice that almost trembled because of the hidden rage. Kyo continued to stare at his cousin. "Do you know why I reject each and every one of my admirers? Why I chose Physical Education classes even though Social Studies would've helped me much in getting in the university? Why I tag along every time Haru invites us to watch some boring movie I couldn't care less about?" He took a deep breath and snapped: "Damn it, it's because of you, you stupid, dense, idiot cat! _You_! You've made my life a living hell for the past two years and don't even realise it, and I _hate_ it how I don't even care, and I hate _you_ for it and damn it, for making me enjoy every sick second of my life! It's your fault I'm—"

"Stop it," Kyo said firmly. Silence filled the air instantly, leaving Yuki's poisonous words hanging in the air. The rage had disappeared from Yuki's eyes and was now replaced with that enigmatic look Kyo still couldn't fully understand. Kyo shifted his legs and opened his mouth, but had to look the other way before anything came out. "I thought I already told you that I don't hate you."

The silence was very long after that. Kyo stared blankly at the wall, a bit afraid of Yuki's reaction, but what made him even more terrified was that the other wasn't reacting at all. The ticking of the clock was starting to get painful again.

"You mean… you… don't… mind me?"

Kyo badly wanted to laugh out loud for several reasons: for making the rat stutter, because of that very vague question that could've been interpreted in many ways, because of that blush on the rat's face… but didn't. Some basic instinct about human contact told him that if he wanted to maintain that slowly forming bond between them, he should act a bit more respectively.

"No," he simply answered and shrugged then. "I'm stronger than you, you know. Like you said… I could've pushed you away anytime."

A small smile curved on Yuki's lips, and they stared at each other, abashed. Neither knew exactly what to do now, especially when the moment was quite frail and very unimaginable for both. Yuki broke the silence when he nodded at the kitchen and said:

"You hungry?"

"A bit," Kyo answered. He followed Yuki into the kitchen, thought varying from Yuki's beautiful locks to what he should eat to accompany the few _onirigi_ balls that were leftovers from the weekend. Then he saw the playful glint in Yuki's eyes and understood instantly why Yuki had lured him into the kitchen.

Again.

"I said I had a horrible day", Yuki purred when he had trapped Kyo tightly between the wall and himself. The spot next to the fridge was becoming familiar to Kyo, as he now remembered to watch out for the nail sticking out of the wall near the floor. "And I hope you're ready to amuse me this time…"

Kyo smirked. "You never told me what was particularly 'horrible' about this day."

"Does that matter?" Yuki snorted and leaned closer to kiss him. Kyo avoided the move, and Yuki frowned.

"Fine, you stupid cat. It was your fault again."

"What?"

"It's your fault I almost flunked my English test," Yuki muttered, a blush occupying his cheeks again. "I was too busy watching you instead of filling in the answers…"

It was Kyo's turn to blush. "You're obsessed."

"You have no idea," Yuki smirked. He leant closer again, but Kyo interrupted the attempted kiss before that.

"Is that the reason you started seeing that dumb psychiatrist?"

Yuki rolled his eyes. "Yes," he replied with faked patience. "And you know what that over-rated Mrs. Superego told me? 'You are just sexually frustrated… go and get laid.'"

"She _didn't_ say that."

"Well, not from word to word, at least."

"Sexually frustrated, huh?" Kyo grinned. "I wonder if that's true."

"Enough talking, cat, your moving lips are slowly turning me into a madman."

Kyo's laughter was suppressed by Yuki's strong kiss. Yuki pinned him tightly against the wall, moving a leg between Kyo's thighs. Kyo gasped, trying to free himself from Yuki's grip, but the other wouldn't let him. Feeling Yuki move against him was so amazing feeling that it beat all the other endorphin-filled moments up to now by far. Kyo tilted his head to his left, making Yuki whine because of the lost contact. He attacked Yuki's lips again, taking advance of the other's open mouth and slipping in his tongue. Yuki's grip loosened immediately, and Kyo placed his freed hands around Yuki's waist and pulled him close.

It felt heavenly to stand there, in the middle of the kitchen, kissing Yuki and listening to the raindrops drum the roof – to be so close to someone. The kiss became slower until it wasn't an actual kiss anymore, just two pairs of lips barely touching. Kyo's eyes were closed as he hugged Yuki tightly, enjoying the warmth of the other and the thought that they were sheltered in the kitchen, away from the horrible rain. He smiled drowsily: he could get used to this…

A pair of hands roaming on his hips woke him up. Yuki smirked at him, and Kyo scowled. Trust the horny rat to ruin a perfect moment.

"Lay off the hands, you pervert!"

"But you like it," Yuki laughed. "Well, have you decided yet?"

"What?" Kyo grumbled, still fighting off Yuki's hands. Yuki brought his face very close and whispered into Kyo's ear:

"Whose room are we going to use, of course."

Kyo's blush equalled the shade of his eyes as he jerked away from his cousin. "You're getting ahead of things, rat…"

"I'll be waiting in my room."

"Wait as long as you want, you pervert." Yuki just smirked, turned around and walked away.

Kyo followed in three seconds.

* * *

"Souma Kyo."

Kyo stood up, slouched towards his teacher and rolled his eyes when the paper was handed to him. It was the worst day of the whole month: the day their exams were given back to them and they were graded. Usually Kyo would end up having a handful of average scores, with a few worse and few slightly better than average. The day included almost always a receiving of his (usually failed) English exam and a humiliation from Miss Spell Checker because of that. No matter how hard he tried, Miss Spell Checker would always frown on him and give him that sneer he hated so badly.

This time wasn't an exception: as soon as Kyo had received his English exam, Miss Spell Checker leant closer and raised her thick eyebrows.

"I don't know how you did it this time, Souma, but I'm sure you somehow cheated. I'm not letting you go this easily next time."

Kyo just bowed politely and returned to his seat. Then he turned his paper around, expecting it to be void of any comments and having just an 'F' coldly marked on the right corner. It was quite the opposite, filled with circles, making it look like a fireworks of red marker. He blinked.

"Oy, Carrot, what are you smiling at?" his best friend yawned. "Isn't that your English exam?"

"Just look at this, Yankee. Look at this!" He almost threw to paper to his friend's face. Uo snorted and took the paper.

"What?" she yelped. "You got an A? But that's… that's… I'm so proud of you!"

Kyo avoided her hug by standing abruptly up. "I told you! Watch me now, world! I did it! I beat the horrible monster called 'English grammar rules'!"

"Souma, if you don't want any more detention, sit down," Miss Spell Checker said dryly. Kyo rolled his eyes. Sure, the Yankee could yell as much as she wanted on her lesson, but when it came to him…

"You seem kinda frustrated, sweetie. So, your room or mine?"

Miss Spell Checker turned redder than anyone had ever seen her. "THREE WEEKS OF DETENTION, SOUMA!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever suits you."

* * *

"You know, that wasn't very wise," Uo remarked when she finally managed to stop her laughter. Their usual group was sitting on the rooftop for lunch as usual. Usual and usual. Kyo smirked for the word in his mind, then noticed Uo's awaiting look.

"What?" he muttered, giving the right answer by accident. Uo rolled her eyes.

"Miss Spell Checker is going to kill you next time she sees you. You humiliated her in front of the class."

"I'm sure she deserved it," Haru commented. Behind his blank look was a hint of amusement, and Kyo was proud to notice it. Touru started to stutter:

"Bu-but, Haru-kun, you—I mean, Kyo-kun was being a bit mean towards her, um, not that she hasn't been rude to us, but I just mean to say that, uh, maybe that was—"

"Touru, you're too kind, as always," Hanajima said nonchalantly. "The only vibrations I've ever gotten from her have been anger and frustration. She has never even once been happy or even felt empathy towards anyone."

"That's pretty harsh, even from you, Hana," Uo snorted. Momiji frowned at her.

"Aww, but Hana-chan's right! She _is_ pretty evil at times…"

"Well, anyway, that doesn't change the fact that it was pretty dumb to defy her when you had just gotten out of the hook," Uo interrupted and shooed Momiji off despite the little boy's attempts to regain the attention. "Now you're going to spend the next three weeks in detention. Good work, honey."

"Don't be jealous. You can accompany me any time you want." Kyo snickered when he saw the faint blush on Uo's face.

"If you're referring to my punishment for teaching those idiot gangsters a lesson or two for blackmailing the junior high students…"

"Don't cry, sweetie. We all know that on the inside you're just an old softie."

"Shut it, Orangey."

"Love you too."

"Will you two ever stop?" Yuki sighed.

Kyo hid his smile by taking a bite of his sandwich. Things hadn't really changed in the past two weeks: he was still spending his afternoons cleaning the corridors from four to five (Miss Spell Checker still made sure that he received the dirtiest ones), Touru and Haru were still just as crazy for each other (and still didn't dare kiss in public), Momiji was still trying to impress everyone by acting a four-year-old instead of the mature seventeen years old young man he truly was, Hanajima was still just as weird as always, Uo was still being a pervert and Yuki was… Yuki. Even if he now knew a whole lot more of his enigmatic cousin, there were still a lot of things that were too touchy to discuss. It went for him, too: there were still things he wasn't ready to talk about with Yuki, and the exact definition of their relationship was one of those silenced things.

"You need to get laid," Uo sighed. Kyo resisted the urge to roll his eyes and replied dryly:

"So, your room or mine?"

"You wish, Carrot."

It was just as odd to pretend being a very mature but perverted person in the eyes of everyone, because on the inside he was _still_ just as scared as he had been all these years. The fact that he locked his lips with his male cousin daily hadn't affected his shyness, even if he had wished it to give him real courage instead of the pretended one he used. Life was still being cruel to him: even after finding the one person who wasn't intimidated by him and accepted him (or, in practise, wasn't freaking scared of being near him), he wasn't one bit more confident of himself. _Wasn't finding 'one's other half' supposed to give you infinite happiness?_ Kyo thought, a bit disappointed. He glanced at Yuki, who was sitting opposite of him, next to Hanajima and trying to explain to Momiji why wearing girls' school uniform would be deadly to him. ("I would be instantly hugged by one of my fan club members, then crushed to death under their feet… and you still insist on me using girls' uniform just because it would look 'cute'?")

Kyo smirked – if the news of him and Yuki dating/fooling around/being in love (he honestly didn't know which alternative was closest to the truth) broke out at school, he would be murdered in five seconds. It was easy to laugh at the thought now, but when declaring their true relation became an actual issue…

_Not in a century_, Kyo snorted in his mind and focused on his sandwich again. _There's no way I'd figure out that damn rat sooner than that_.

"Hey, Prince, I forgot to ask… How did you do in the exams?"

Yuki smiled blankly (translation: he didn't want to tell something). "They went well, thanks for asking, Uotani-san."

"How was your English test? I mean, that was a disaster for the whole class…" Uo glanced at Kyo and shrugged. "Excluding one lucky bastard."

"Hey! I think I deserve some praise for staying up and studying the whole night before the test!"

Uo ignored Kyo and turned back to Yuki. "What grade did you get, Prince?"

Yuki smiled (translation: he was trying to figure out how to change the course of the conversation). "Not good one, if you must know."

"But, but, Yuki-kun, you have always been so good in English!" Touru exclaimed, gripping Haru's hand tightly. Haru smiled at her as if to signal that he would support her no matted how deep she would put her foot in her mouth this time. "There's no need to be so modest!"

Yuki gave a laugh at Touru (translation: he was wondering how the hell she didn't get his message when everyone else could clearly see that he didn't want to talk about it). Kyo sighed in his mind and was ready to open his mouth to change the topic for Yuki's sake, but Uo was faster.

"Oy, Prince, now I'm really interested! What grade did you get?"

Yuki's scowl was so clear that it didn't even need to be translated. "I passed, okay?"

Silence filled the air for a while. Kyo wanted to laugh: the perfect prince Yuki had gotten a lower grade than him? Maybe there was some justice in the world. Maybe there were times he could beat his perfect cousin…

"I thought so," Uo continued. "I mean, you weren't concentrating at all during the exam…"

"Your brain waves were ranging from furious to blank," Hanajima stated, "meaning that you were thinking of something completely else."

Yuki coughed (translation: _why must even my closest friends keep an eye my every move?_) and sighed. "Yes, you're right. I wasn't concentrating."

Kyo felt his hair stand up to its end: the conversation was slowly turning to walking on thin ice. Before he could interrupt, Yuki had already turned his eyes directly at him. "My mind was on something completely else."

_Oh, great._

Suddenly they were all staring at Kyo and Yuki. Kyo glared at Yuki, who was wearing that mysterious look again. If Kyo had learned something about his cousin, it was that every time Yuki wore that look, there was a hint of lust behind those bright eyes. Even if everything else was blurred and uncertain, that aspect of his look was very clear.

Too bad for Kyo that everyone else could read that much too.

"Oh, I see," Uo grinned instantly. "He is pretty hot, isn't he?"

_What were friends for again? Oh yeah, not saving my ass and comforting me when I need it the most, but for embarrassing me every second like there's no tomorrow._

"I think you weren't concentrating much during that exam too, cat," Yuki smiled wickedly. "What was that term again… Oh yeah, 'sexually frustrated', by any change?"

"Speak only for yourself, you idiot."

"I think it was you who came to me last night, not the other way round."

They gasped, every one of them, and Kyo saw from the corner of his eye that Touru made a movement that hinted that she might've fainted. Momiji was staring at Yuki with so big eyes that Kyo was afraid that they might pop out; Hanajima was turning her head from Yuki to Kyo and back to Yuki faster than anyone had seen her ever move in general. Haru just smirked and nodded at Kyo, which just embarrassed him more. The worst of all was, though, the look on Uo's face: she was slowly but surely turning into a yaoi-fangirl and thus breaking her promise of never ever squealing because of the "cute boy-boy love" in front of Kyo.

Kyo looked at Yuki's eyes and sighed in his mind. Perhaps things had changed a bit after all. Previously when he had been put in a situation equally as humiliating as this, he had usually turned red because of anger and embarrassment and ran away, screaming revenge and colourful swear words that made young children's ears ring for days. Now he was just merely staring back at Yuki, thinking how stupid and at the same time perfect it would be just to grab the stupid rat's collar and kiss him right now.

"So, cat, what do you say? Your room or mine?"

Kyo quickly looked around – everyone was still staring at him, puzzled because of the situation. Maybe it would be wise to discuss with Yuki how they should bring forward their relation or should they do it at all, and then it would be time to tell Uo to go to hell with her stupid jokes and beat up Haru just because he was such a pervert…

He smirked. Judging from the eagerness of Yuki's eyes there was _one thing_ he could always win at. No amount of psychiatrists or will power could remove Yuki's one weakness that was, luckily, controlled by Kyo and Kyo only.

Perhaps they could talk later. Much later. Kyo smirked again.

"Yours."

* * *

_End._

* * *

A/N: If you made it here through the lame jokes, swear words, too-long-don't-read-sentences and the overuse of semicolon, congratulations! Your nerves must be pretty good.

No, really, thanks for reading. Now that the story's finished, I'd like to ask you to spend one irreplacable minute of your life to comment my fic on a whole – one or two words will be enough, if you can't think of anything. xD Hugs to you all!

-- eishi


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